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The way characters are portrayed in literature is one of the most important aspects of literature. Characters that do not reflect well with their audiences do not usually do well, but audiences change over time so literature has to change with them. The Maltese Falcon, written by Dashiell Hammett, was published in 1929. Being a crime, noir novel it portrayed what became to be known as the stereotypical no-nonsense detective and femme fatale. These types of characters are still popular in modern day fiction, but have changed to fit the audience’s different perspectives. In this paper the characters of The Maltese Falcon and the characters of Alan Moore’s 1986 graphic novel Watchmen will be examined to see how audiences views of similar characters evolves over time.
Watchmen, while originally published as a limited series comic book, is a highly regarded graphic novel that has been praised for its plot, characters, and political statements. While the two works may not seem to be similar they have much more in common than meets the eye. For example, both works are based around a crime in
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which a character close to the protagonist, or protagonists in the case of Watchmen, is murdered and follows said protagonist on their journey to find the killer. Brunies 2 A much more prominent similarity between the two works is the use of the femme fatale. In The Maltese Falcon Brigid O’Shaughnessy is portrayed as the typical femme fatale. She is a dangerous woman in the eyes of Sam Spade and this is proven to be true through the duration of the novel. A femme fatale is usually shown as a woman who is skilled at using her looks as a metaphorical weapon to get what they want, which is normally at the expense of the person they are deceiving. O’Shaughnessy is a prime example of this type of character. Just the way that Sam Spade describes her as “dangerous” before she really reveals her full self is proof that O’Shaughnessy is practically the embodiment of a femme fatale. However, Hammett’s interpretation of the femme fatale has been shaped by audiences changing views and leads to a new generation of femme fatales. In Watchmen there are three characters that would be considered to be a femme fatale. Laurie Juspeczyk, otherwise known as Silk Spectre, is the primary femme fatale that appears in Watchmen. However, her character plays the role of the reluctant femme fatale. Sally Juspeczyk, the mother of Laurie and the original Silk Spectre, is shown to be the more stereotypical femme fatal, but is now past her prime. One of the minor sources of conflict in Watchmen is how Laurie is reluctant to take up the role that her mother expects her to take. Unlike O’Shaughnessy, Laurie is aware that she is a sex symbol to men because she, “wears the costume for men, not for herself” (Keating 6). While O’Shaughnessy knows she can use her femininity to get what she needs and is willing to do it Laurie only does it because she feels like she has to. In the 1920s a woman such as O’Shaughnessy appealed to her audience because she was able to use her looks get what she wanted and was portrayed as a less than reputable character. In contrast Laurie knows she can do that, but does not feel like she needs to nor does she want to. This can be a reflection on how women’s rights have evolved from the early to the late twentieth century. Laurie is a reflection on more modern feminist views that she does not need to be a sex symbol or femme fatale to get what she want. Her mother Sally is a direct symbol of the past view of a femme fatale and that audience’s views of the femme fatale have evolved since the introduction of characters like Brigid O’Shaughnessy. Another case of how characters are portrayed for a different audience is the detective of both works.
In The Maltese Falcon Sam Spade is what most people think of when they hear about a private detective. He is a no nonsense, tough guy that is not only a good detective, but can defend himself as well. While Sam may not be the most ideal protagonist as his moral compass is not exactly the best he is what a typical protagonist for this type of crime fiction. Meanwhile in Watchmen the character of Walter Kovacs, also known as Rorschach, is also a private detective type of character, but with vigilante elements. The things that really separate the two characters is that Rorschach is practically insane. While Rorschach also has a poor moral compass he is willing to go beyond certain measures that would be viewed negatively if a character like Sam Spade were to perform
them. Sam and Rorschach both go outside the law to accomplish their goals, but are still looked at as protagonist to their respective audiences. While it is not uncommon for some characters to use methods that are not exactly legal the way it is shown in the two works can be viewed as a statement on how societies view on a characters morals had changed. In Watchmen Rorschach comes to view things in black and white manner which is not only a reference to his costume, but also his mental state. At the same time Sam Spade works in a more grey area where he still has a line that he will not cross, but is willing to bend the line if necessary. Another view on how Brunies 4 audiences have changed is how mentally ill characters such as Rorschach are able to be accepted as a hero. One of the controversial elements of The Maltese Falcon was the hints that some its characters were homosexual. In The Maltese Falson two characters, Wilmer Cook and Joel Cairo, were both hinted but never stated that they were homosexuals. While in the early twentieth century homosexuality was looked down upon, having characters that can even be hinted at being gay was a risk and could even affect on how well the novel would sell. Comparing this to Watchmen which has multiple characters that are possibly gay while even having a few other openly gay characters. This is an obvious change in audience views that can accept not only implied but openly gay characters. The ways that these characters are written in the respective works is also important as to how the audience accepted them. For example the way the Joel Cairo is described as “a small-boned dark man of medium height” and “The fragrance of chypre came with him” are hints that he is gay, but is not explicit and can be over looked (Hammett 42). However, just before Cairo’s description Effie comments on him by saying “This guy is queer” (Hammett 42). While it is usually understood that by queer Effie was describing Cairo as weird, but is another hint at Cairo’s possible homosexuality. In Watchmen one character under the name Silhouette is actively shown to be in a relationship with another woman, but is later killed for being a lesbian. Her case is representative of the way that audiences can still change, but the old ways of thinking can still linger behind. Brunies 5 Another more prominent example of an ambiguously gay character in Watchmen is Adrian Veidt, also known as Ozymandias. While never actually stating Veidt is a homosexual Rorschach makes a note in his journal after meeting with him that states, “He is pampered and decadent betraying even his own shallow, liberal affections. Possibly homosexual? Must remember to investigate further” (Moore). Other evidence is a panel in the graphic novel that depicts Veidt meeting with paparazzi outside what appears to be a gay club, but once again is not made perfectly clear. When looking at the way the authors portray these characters it is obvious that they are written differently. In The Maltese Falcon Joel Cairo and even Wilmer Cook were written in a way that if someone were to look deeper into the text the hints were present, but vague enough to hide it from the overwhelming anti-homosexual way of thinking in the early twentieth century. Character like Adrian Veidt were able to be written with less ambiguity and characters like silhouette with no ambiguity because of the more accepting view of homosexuality of the 1980s. While views in the eighties were not as progressive as they are in modern day it is still an example of how the changes in audience’s views allowed character to be written differently. In conclusion the characters of The Maltese Falcon and Watchmen are examples of how characters in the same genre and with the same character type have to evolve to meet the views of the audience at the time. While the foundation of these characters can be similar such as the hard-boiled detective or the femme fatale; if the character personalities, views, and situations were to stay the same then the audience would view these types of characters as stagnant. The reason many today view The Maltese Falcon as stereotypical is because there has been over eighty years of characters like Sam Brunies 6 Spade. At the time they were original and without the characters that we call stereotypical today we would not have the Rorschachs and the Silk Spectres in the world that we have today.
In our contemporary civilization, it is evident that different people have somewhat different personalities and that novels behold essential and key roles in our daily lives; they shape and influence our world in numerous ways via the themes and messages expressed by the authors. It is so, due to the different likes of our population, that we find numerous types and genres of books on our bookshelves, each possessing its own audience of readers and fans. In this compare and contrast essay, we will be analysing and comparing two novels, The Chrysalids and Animal Farm, and demonstrating how both books target the general audience and not one specific age group or audience of readers. We will be shedding light at the themes and messages conveyed to us in both books, the point of view and the style of writing of the authors as well as the plot and the format used by the authors, in order to demonstrate how both books are targeting the general audience.
In our contemporary civilization, literature plays an important and impacting role in our daily lives. Adapting to the different likes and tastes of modern day society, books and novels have different types and genres, all having in common the objective to please the reader and to convey morals and themes to the audience. In the 20th century were written 2 novels, The Chrysalids and Animal Farm, which will be compared and contrasted in the following essay, demonstrating the fact that they both target the general audience and not one particular group of readers. The comparison between both novels will be done via the contrast of specific literary elements such as the plot and the moods of the novels, the point of view of the narration and the style of the author, and also via the themes the authors try to convey to their audience through their literary work.
The Pacific coast port city of San Francisco, California provides a distinctively mysterious backdrop in Dashiell Hammett’s The Maltese Falcon. Unlike many other detective stories that are anchored in well-known metropolises such as Los Angeles or New York City, Hammett opted to place the events of his text in the lesser-known, yet similarly exotic cultural confines of San Francisco. Hammett used his own intricate knowledge of the San Francisco Bay Area - coupled with details collected during a stint as a detective for the now defunct Pinkerton Agency - to craft a distinctive brand of detective fiction that thrived on such an original setting (Paul 93). By examining the setting of 1920’s San Francisco in The Maltese Falcon, it becomes apparent that one of Hammett’s literary strengths was his exceptional ability to intertwine non-fictional places with a fictional plot and characters in order to produce a logical and exceedingly believable detective mystery.
the stories are being chased down and are wanted to be killed. Rainsford and Kane are both smart men who know how to outsmart others and stay
The mid-1800s contains its special genre of writing. Perhaps it was the wild American frontier or maybe a writer’s whim to write something different, yet nevertheless, American Romanticism evolved. Writers like James Fennimore Cooper filled their stories with heroes and villains, war and peace, love and strife throwing all sorts of trials towards their characters. Like puppets writers control their characters actions and emotion; Cooper’s characters are flat, predictable people with much happening to them. Two of his characters Hawkeye and Mague will be discussed to determine whether any internal change occurred.
Alan Moore’s “Watchmen” focuses on several characters throughout the novel making the idea of a main character moot. However, one character can be described as the most influential to the plot of the graphic novel. Rorschach can be seen as such due to the fact that he narrates a large portion of the novel, and his heroic code that he follows. Not only does he influence the plot by those two reasons, but also by uniting the characters after a long silence. The Comedian is the only character that almost perfectly fits as the character with the most influence on the plot of “Watchmen.” The death of his character allows for the plot to be set in motion. He has not only has he shaped every other character in the novel, but the symbol that represents his character can be found throughout the graphic novel. Although Rorschach can be interpreted as the most influential character of “Watchmen,” The Comedian influenced more aspects of the plot than any other character of the graphic novel.
To conclude, the graphic novel Watchmen presents the non-fantastic representation of a superhero, implying that not all heroes are like Superman. This notion is explored within the novel by mentioning the realistic motives of the characters choosing to become superheroes, by Rorschach’s representation and through the heroic reactions of the New Yorkers to a street crime. These elements all contribute to Watchmen’s uniqueness and complexity as a superhero comic.
Watchmen is not just a graphic novel, but also a unique representation of American idealism as expressed through character image. Although the characters are portrayed as "superheroes," each is psychologically complex in that they become symbols for the flaws of American culture. Together, the characters of Watchmen reflect an unflattering image of American identity. We sacrifice morals to defend principles, rather than saving people. We sacrifice ourselves for commercial gain and for the fame that comes from the worship of strangers.
To create living people should always be the goal in literature. It is how a writer can illuminate a new facet of existence and can only be achieved through the use of a sympathetic imagination. Hemingway erred however, when he argued, “A character is a caricature” (153). A caricature may be a character sometimes, but it may also be a fully realized and living person at others. As in Watchmen, when a caricature lives, it can be an extremely powerful thing.
In the novel Watchmen by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons, interprets the achievement of order and law through the use of power and violence by superheroes. This novel consists a total of seven different characters to demonstrate how superheroes obtain peace in society through the use of violence. The writer portrays the plot in different characters’ perspectives by guiding readers in their point of view. This motivation also assists readers to examine the loneliness and the feeling of isolation during Dr. Jonathan Osterman, Walter Joseph Kovacs and Laurie Juspeczky’s life experiences.
Within the German Democratic Republic, there was a secret police force known as the Stasi, which was responsible for state surveillance, attempting to permeate every facet of life. Agents within and informants tied to the Stasi were both feared and hated, as there was no true semblance of privacy for most citizens. Directed by Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, the movie The Lives of Others follows one particular Stasi agent as he carries out his mission to spy on a well-known writer and his lover. As the film progresses, the audience is able to see the moral transformation of Stasi Captain Hauptmann Gerd Wiesler primarily through the director 's use of the script, colors and lighting, and music.
L’Engle, L'Engle. “Focus On The Story, Not Readers…” Writer Apr 2010: p. 24-25. MAS Ultra-School Edition. EBSCOhost. Web. 25 Feb. 2014.
Bonnie Crabb Humanities 340 Rough Draft Literary Criticism Can you imagine walking where the streets are dark and cold with no glimmer of excitement and joy as security cameras watch your every move? Alan Moore certainly could. In fact, he felt like he was living in such a place. He saw 1980s England as a fascist society where the lower class were being oppressed. In Moore’s graphic novel, V for Vendetta, he depicts that point in history through the story of future London under the Norsefire Regime.
...ch as time, dates, and the exact relationships between the different characters are is not spelled out. This active involvement of the viewer is necessary for the work of art to stand on its own. This takes the challenge thrown out by modernists to reject easy conventions and make new ones, and pushes it further to the point where conventions become a joke. Those who understand the references get the joke, and this creates a new kind of meaning beyond the surface meaning of the narrative.
Consequently, one can broach a series of querries about literature and the nature of literary theories : what is literature ? What is the novel and what is its function ? And finally, to what extent does criticism affect the quality of literature ? This welter of questions is nothing but the tip of the ice berg.